Christmas-related Stress

Stress seems to make me knit more. Mhm, hm. Yup, that must be it.

I haven't had time to post, because I've been -

Finishing the Moss Stitch Baby Set. I decided I probably had just enough wool left to make a scarf to go with the hat. And I did! I was half-way through it when I decided to rip it. I knew I wouldn't have enough wool to go the distance, so I reduced the width from 11 stitches to 7 and eked a bit more. Was a pain in the arse at first, but then I got into the rythym, and it was done in no a little bit of time. Here they are:

Modelled by Janie
I bought a baby doll and a barbie from the Salvos to model my baby and doll clothes on. I'm sure you'll see Plastic-Panties-Petunia in a future post.

[If you think that's strange, I named my new fridge Matilda :P ]

Starting a Series of Barbie Clothes. I've had the idea in my mind for a while to make some doll's clothes. After some research on Etsy, I've decided to make some Barbie clothes. I'm not cool enough to make Blythe clothes, let alone afford to buy a Blythe doll to model them on. P. P. Petunia, on the other hand, was only a buck-seventy-five.

Barbie is tolerably kitschy, so I thought, who gives a flying fuck what anyone thinks? (So I was a bit drunk at the time, ok?) I had an idea to make a series of Barbie outfits - skirts, pants, party dresses, with accessories of course! And if I could get my hands on some barbie shoes, then I could offer them for free with the outfits. Then they could be complete. And that's essential for a well-dressed fashion icon, oui? (Ok, so I'm a bit drunk now, wanna make something of it?)

I started with a jumper from the book Knitting in the Round that I had borrowed from the library:

Rather clinical in the plastic bag, no?
I couldn't be bothered getting it out of the bag, let alone taking more than one photo, so you get to see the grey Preppy Skirt behind it. It's mostly finished, except for weaving in the ends (to which I'm slowly becoming reconciled). I'd like to decorate it with a white felt and sequinned flower, circa 1954. I'm also making a mohair scarf, which you can see in the foreground of the pic. I'm making it using I-cord, and I'm not 100% happy with the way it's turning out. I'd rather it was more flat and less tube-y, but I can't be bothered ripping it out. Not after the Baby Scarf. What is it with scarf issues at the moment? Perhaps it's the fact that it's thirty-fucking-seven degrees out there. Those of you who know it will excuse the language.

Yet this morning, just when I had decided that yarn-based crafts where done with for the summer (not to mention moving at all), I was inspired by - and I'm pretty embarrassed by this - a Scooby Doo cartoon. The original was purple and taller than a man, but in response I created my own ... Left-Handed Monster:

The Makings of Another Nightmare
And, no, that safety pin on the front is not to mark where his penis goes! :P He had shorts on in the cartoon! The main gist of it is that the monster has both arms on the same side. I'm also using it as a chance to experiment with making the limbs bent (the left leg in the picture has a slight 'knee') and eventually different forms of decoration. I plan to poke it with sharp needles, folks! I ordered a needle-felting kit on Ebay and I'm just itching for it to come (damned public holidays!). Basically, it's a way to felt wool and attach it to things by poking it over and over with a really sharp needle. It's easy to do at home, with no boiling soapy water, no mess and no fuss. Just a slight risk that you might pierce yourself with an extremely sharp, barbed needle. I have not told my boyfriend yet. Wait, he reads this.... D'oh!

Ah well, real blood is more authentic, right?